August 22 to 28, 2008

August 22 to 28, 2008

 

Friday ; This afternoon our friends Kevin and Sandy arrived. We met them on our caravan trip into Baja California, Mexico last winter. They are from Britain. They are spending a few years touring around North America in a large Class A motorhome. They spent the earlier part of this summer up in Alaska, and are returning from there now.

While we were sitting in our screen tent gazebo visiting with them this afternoon I noticed a baby Pine Siskin that appeared to be in distress on the ground underneath our bird feeder. When a gust of wind would blow the baby bird would just tumble and roll. I brought it into the gazebo and examined it, determining that it was probably beyond hope. We attempted to administer some water to it using a syringe, but it was too far gone. I placed it on a magazine on our swing in the gazebo and allowed it to die peacefully, at least saving it from having to die while it was being blown around on the ground.

Around supper time we drove into Penticton to attend the Ironman Triathlon Street Party. The Canada Ironman Triathlon is held annually in Penticton. We wandered around the downtown area closed to traffic where the Street Party was taking place. We wandered down to Okanagan Lake to allow Kevin and Sandy to see the lovely lakeshore area. The lakeshore was not very accessible because of the areas closed off for the Ironman Triathlon registration, event transitions, and start / finish lines. We went to a Chinese buffet restaurant for supper, then spent the rest of the evening walking around the Street Party area, listening to a variety of bands playing music.

 

Saturday ; Today was a "work" day for me. Early in the afternoon I left for my gig as a clown / juggler / magician at a surprise 50th birthday party in Oliver. Sandy had applied my clown face make up, and she did an excellent job. Through Keremeos, on Hwy. 3 to Osoyoos, then north to Oliver on Hwy. 97. This surprise birthday party had a Mexican theme, so when I arrived the client had me switch my hobo clown hat for a sombrero. I started off my afternoon of work roaming around the client's back yard where the party was taking place, making balloon animals, a very recently acquired new skill. I quickly learned that balloon animals are a flop with an adult crowd, although they were a big hit much later in the afternoon when some children arrived. I switched to magic, roaming around, performing close up magic for each of the six or so small groups of party guests. When word arrived that the "birthday girl", the client's wife was about to arrive, he had me hide behind a pillar in their attached garage, waiting for the garage door to open and her car to begin entering the garage. As per his instructions, I jumped out from behind the pillar, leaping and waving in front of her car, then dashed into their house. I have no idea what he was thinking, and I certainly have no idea what she thought as she drove into her garage, and a pudgy, old hobo clown wearing a sombrero jumped in front of her car, then ran into her house ! ! !

It was a long afternoon ! ! ! I was to work for 3 hours, and actually worked for 3½ hours, as a result of the catered Mexican meal being late. Continuously performing magic for that long, on my feet for the whole time, in the hot sun, with face make up on, was exhausting. Finally, as the delayed, catered Mexican dinner was about to be served, I packed up and left. I drove to Okanagan Falls where I returned all my "employer's" stuff to her. By the time I got home, covering almost 200 km. / 120 mi. from home to the client's, to my employer's, and back home, it was almost 8:00 P.M.. From the time I had left home until I had returned, my "work day" had lasted 7 hours, and that didn't include the time to apply or remove my face make up. Considering the price of diesel fuel consumed, the payment I received was hardly worth the effort. Oh well, I didn't decide to be a "performer" to get rich, I guess.

 

Sunday ; Today we went to the Lower Similkameen Indian Band Powwow at the Ashnola Powwow Grounds at the Ashnola Campground operated by the Band. Joanne and I have been to a number of powwows around North America. This was the first time since we’ve moved here that there has been a “local” powwow. The Lower Similkameen Indian Band is one of the Bands that comprise the Okanagan First Nations. It includes the Upper Similkameen Indian Band, the Penticton Indian Band, the Osoyoos Indian Band, and the Colville Indian Band across the border near Colville, Washington. We arrived just in time for the Grand Entry ceremony. We stayed for about 3½ hours, watching the drum and dance performances / competitions that are the “raison d’être” for powwows. We left when it began to rain. We drove south on Ashnola River Road, sightseeing along the Ashnola River. We were in Kevin’s and Sandy’s “toad” ( vehicle towed behind a motorhome ), a Honda CR-V, a 2 wheel drive sport utility vehicle. We explored down Ewart Creek Road, a one lane dirt trail running alongside Ewart Creek. Joanne and I had not previously explored along this road. It was a road best suited to 4WD vehicles, but Kevin’s and Sandy’s toad handled it.

When we returned home to Riverside RV Park resort, I barbecued some steaks for supper, and we did some planning for a trip into mainland Mexico next winter.

 

Monday ; Today was a day to stay home and get caught up on "at home" chores. In the afternoon I filleted a salmon and made bannock. Supper was, of course, Cajun seasoned, barbecued salmon fillets served on bannock rounds.

 

Tuesday ; Today we went to Forbidden Fruit Winery for a picnic lunch. On the way there, driving east on Hwy. 3 we stopped at Cawston Glass in Cawston to arrange for a replacement windshield for Kevin's and Sandy's toad. Cawston Glass made phone calls to order the correct windshield and to Kevin's and Sandy's insurance company in Florida to make arrangements for an insurance claim for the cost of the replacement windshield. Kevin's and Sandy's driver's licenses, vehicle registrations, and vehicle insurance policies are based on their "address" in Florida where they bought their motorhome when they came to the United States from England. At Forbidden Fruit Winery we visited the tasting room, and Kevin and Sandy sampled some of Forbidden Fruit's products. They had not previously tasted fruit wines. They were impressed and bought a bottle. We each ordered a chilled glass of our favourite Forbidden Fruit wine, and took it outside to have with our picnic lunch sitting on a picnic table beside the orchards and the Similkameen River. Very lovely ! After lunch we wandered around the orchards for awhile.

On our way back to Riverside RV Park Resort we stopped at a few fruit stands in Cawston and Keremeos to buy interesting fresh fruits and vegetables. We drove around some orchards and vineyards around Keremeos to allow Kevin and Sandy to see fruit trees and grape vines up close.

 

Wednesday ; My plan for today was to take Kevin and Sandy flightseeing. That didn't happen. This morning we prepared picnic lunches and left for Penticton. Our neighbour Janet offered to care for Bo for the day, so we left Bo with Janet and Jerry. Initially he thought visiting with Janet and Jerry was a great adventure, but as the day wore on he began to feel a bit insecure. Poor Bo ... thought we had abandoned him. When we got to Penticton we ran a few errands then went to Skaha Lake Park to walk along the beach for awhile then have our picnic lunches. As we ate our lunches it became windy. After lunch we drove to Southern Skies Aviation at Penticton Airport. The strong crosswind was beyond the limits for a Cessna 172, so I was not allowed to fly. There is only one runway at Penticton, running north and south. The winds at Penticton are almost always from the north or the south, but today they were directly from the west, so no matter which direction I would take off, the wind would be a crosswind at 90 degrees. Today's wind of 27 knots was beyond the 172's crosswind take off limit of 15 knots. I rescheduled our sightseeing flight to Friday.

We decided to go exploring by road. We crossed Penticton to find Lakeside Road running along the eastern shore of Skaha Lake all the way to Okanagan Falls. We've always travelled on the highway, which runs along the western shore of Skaha Lake. At Okanagan Falls we stopped at Tickleberry's, a shop specializing in chocolate coated small fruits like cranberries and blueberries. We continued on to Oliver where we stopped for ice cream. We decided to take a 4WD adventure on a one lane dirt road over the mountains from Oliver to Cawston. At Cawston we stopped at the glass shop to check on whether or not they had received authorization from Kevin's and Sandy's insurer to replace their Honda's windshield. The glass shop had not yet had a response from the insurance company. Kevin will have to deal with that problem tomorrow. We stopped in Keremeos for some groceries before returning to Riverside RV Park Resort. Sandy had left a leg of lamb roasting in a slow cooker. MMMMM ... very good supper ! ! !

 

Thursday ; This afternoon we took Kevin and Sandy sightseeing up the back sides of Stemwinder Mountain and Apex Mountain on Nickel Plate Mine Road, now one of our regular "visitor attractions". After we drove back down we went into the village of Hedley to look around and make a dinner reservation at The Hitching Post for Sunday evening. We crossed over the Similkameen River onto Old Hedley Road, and drove the back road "scenic route" to Princeton, stopping along the way at one of the B.C. Forest Service campgrounds beside the Similkameen River. At Princeton we stopped at Dairy Queen for ice cream treats. Kevin and Sandy had never been to a Dairy Queen before. We returned home driving east on Hwy. 3, stopping at Bromley Rock Provincial Park and Stemwinder Provincial Park for more "tourist attraction" sightseeing.

While Joanne prepared supper Kevin and I each drove to Cawston Glass. He left their Honda CR-V toad there to have the windshield replaced tomorrow. I drove him back home to Riverside RV Park Resort where Joanne was waiting with a perogy dinner. Before visiting us Kevin and Sandy had never had any Ukrainian ethnic foods so tonight we treated them to a perogy dinner. Earlier in their visit with us Joanne had made holupchi ( Ukrainian cabbage rolls ) for dinner one night.

 

DSK

August 15 to 21, 2008

August 15 to 21, 2008

 

Friday ; Our friends Erbon and Lorraine from Ottawa arrived today. I wanted to welcome them with a "B.C. dinner", hoping to successfully copy the "salmon sandwich" I had at the Aboriginal Village at Peach Fest in Penticton last week. Earlier this week I had purchased a whole salmon. Prior to Erbon's and Lorraine's arrival I filleted the salmon into six large boneless chunks, then prepared and cooked a half dozen round slabs of bannock. For dinner I slowly barbecued the salmon, seasoning it lightly with a Cajun seasoning mix from Louisiana, and slathering it liberally with margarine ( we don't use butter ) as it barbecued. When it was ready I heated the bannock rounds on the barbecue and served the salmon on the bannock. It was very good !

 

Saturday ; Tonight we went with Erbon, Lorraine, and our next door neighbour Stu to the first, hopefully annual, Similkameen Soirée held on the grounds of Crowsnest Winery near Cawston, the next village to the east from Keremeos. As we were driving there around 6:00 P.M. the temperature was 101° F. / 38° C.. There are seven wineries in the Similkameen Valley, between Keremeos / Cawston and Osoyoos. They are always involved in the Okanagan wine industry events, but because they are a little further from the population centres of Penticton and Kelowna, they get a bit less attention than the wineries a little further north, in the central Okanagan Valley. The seven wineries decided to start up a Similkameen Wine Festival with this Similkameen Soirée event. The seven wineries set up tasting tables, each featuring their products. There was a four piece band playing music softly. The Crowsnest Winery's restaurant prepared "finger food" appetizers. The fairly large crowd wandered around the beautiful vineyard grounds, tasting wines, munching on appetizers, listening to music, and chatting. I chatted with a woman who had previously lived in Ottawa, and had been a customer of ours at our PET VALU store in Orleans. Small world ! Like most of the wineries around here, Crowsnest Winery's grounds are manicured lawns on the edges of the vineyards, statuaries, fountains, and picnic tables all around. Very lovely setting, and a very nice event, particularly for a "first time" learning experience for the seven wineries involved. Erbon particularly liked some of the products of St. Laszlo Winery, and wants us to take him there in a few days to buy some of their wines.

 

Sunday ; I'm typing this at about 5:30 P.M.. Since we arrived back at Riverside RV Park Resort about an hour ago we have been watching a helicopter with a large bucket hanging down beneath it refilling the bucket with water from the Similkameen River beside our RV park. It is fighting a forest fire a few miles south of here. We can see smoke rising up over the mountain top. Twice in the last hour forest fire suppression tanker planes flew over from the north, dumped their loads of retardant foam on the fire, and returned back to the north, probably to Penticton where two forest fire fighting tanker aircraft are stationed.

This morning I found a baby finch sitting on our bird feeder. Strangely, it did not seem to mind my presence. I walked up and looked at it closely, from perhaps a foot away, before it fluttered down to the ground. Obviously it could fly, since it was on the feeder, but once on the ground it just hopped around a bit. I wondered if it was sick or injured. I picked it up and examined it closely. I couldn't find any obvious injuries. I took some pictures of it and replaced it on the feeder. Its eyes looked sleepy, somewhat like the eyes of budgies that we've had looked when they were sick. Good luck, little finch !

We took Erbon and Lorraine on a "back road" adventure today, driving up the back side of Apex Mountain on Nickel Plate Mine Road. We stopped frequently to take photos of the vistas overlooking the Similkameen Valley. We drove up the road all the way to the old Nickel Plate Mine, then beyond to Apex Ski Village where we joined the "civilized" road from Apex Village down to Highway 3A, then back to Keremeos. We did some sightseeing in and around Keremeos before returning to Riverside RV Park Resort.

We have just returned from the swimming pool, at 7:00 P.M.. The helicopter and tankers continue to fight the forest fire over the mountain across the river to the southwest. The sky over our RV park is becoming black with smoke. I'm fascinated watching the helicopter with the bucket underneath refilling the bucket in the Similkameen.

Great ! ! ! I discovered as I was reading a book in bed late at night that I have poison ivy rash all over my right elbow !

 

Monday ; Yesterday evening there were two tankers and one helicopter fighting forest fires in two locations across the river. One fire was small, and one quite a bit larger. This morning two helicopters returned to fight a fire across the river in a third location. I guess these fires were the result of the electrical thunderstorm with much lightning yesterday afternoon. The two helicopters were rapidly and repeatedly refilling their buckets in the river, one after another. I walked down to the far end of our park's property, to our "burn pile" beside the river, to watch the helicopters and take photos. < blink > WOW !

We prepared picnic lunches and set off to have a picnic and explore along the Ashnola River. We drove to Keremeos, crossed the Similkameen River at Red Bridge and followed Ashnola River Road along the opposite side of the Similkameen River until the road turned south following the Ashnola River. We drove up towards Cathedral Lakes Provincial Park, stopping at a couple of B.C. Forest Service campgrounds, having our picnic lunch at one. We returned to Keremeos, then went to Cawston, to St. Laszlo Winery. Erbon bought a case of assorted wines.

We returned to Riverside RV Park Resort shortly after a violent thunderstorm with high winds and hail had blown through. The winds ripped the awning off one of our neighbour's fifth wheel trailer. Been there, done that ... we're sympathetic ! There were a lot of broken branches, and some yard furniture blown around. This is the second day in a row that we missed storms blowing through our RV park. One of the helicopters ( C-GGAT / Golf Alpha Tango ) was continuing to fight the forest fire to the west across the river from Riverside, refilling his bucket every eight minutes. Lorraine and I walked over to the "burn pile" to watch the process, which I'm fascinated by. We sat on the bank of the Similkameen right where the helicopter was refilling, watching the huge bucket drop into the water and fill about 50 feet in front of us, and the helicopter directly overhead. While Lorraine and I were scrambling along the rocks on the river bank trying to get to the best spot to sit and watch the helicopter we came across a large gopher snake and took some pictures of it.

As I was typing this, at 5:30 P.M., there was a knock on the door. It was the owner of St. Laszlo Winery. I had mentioned that we live at Riverside RV Park Resort. He was looking for Erbon. HA HA HA HA HA ... he had made a mistake on Erbon's credit card transaction, overcharging him $1400 ! ! ! Hey, Erbon ... the morale of that story is ... read the transaction slip before signing it. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

 

Tuesday ; Today was cloudy and cool with intermittent rain. That's somewhat unusual weather for here, especially at this time of the year. We took Erbon and Lorraine to visit Hedley today.

 

Wednesday ; This morning there were many baby finches on our bird feeder, some smaller than others. I discovered that the very small, very young Pine Siskins ( a type of finch ) do not yet fear humans. HMPH ... fear of humans must be an instinct development level that they have not yet reached. How odd !

This morning we drove into Keremeos to see the gathering of the antique and vintage cars that were briefly on display. The Fernie to Victoria Rally of the Antique Car Club Of Canada was going to be in Keremeos for an early lunch break. After quickly viewing the vehicles we drove to Okanagan Falls where I had a meeting with my "employer". I received the details of the magician gig that I have on Saturday in Oliver, and I had a lesson in balloon animal making. From Okanagan Falls we drove to Penticton for a picnic lunch, then Joanne was going to run errands while I went on a Mountain Performance Course training flight. We had our picnic lunch sitting in the truck, watching the very heavy rain fall. The visibility across Skaha Lake was pretty much zero. I suspected that the weather would result in my training flight being cancelled, and when we got to Southern Skies Aviation, that was indeed the case. < sigh > That meant that I got to spend the rest of the afternoon running errands, instead of flying. Oh, joy ... another Wal-Mart trip ! ! !

Erbon and Lorraine had driven their own vehicle into Keremeos to see the antique and vintage cars, then spent the rest of the day running their own errands in and around Keremeos.

We all went to Hedley for dinner at The Hitching Post Restaurant. As always at The Hitching Post, the meal was excellent. We returned home, and while chatting with Erbon and Lorraine in our trailer, I demonstrated some of my magic, and my new balloon animal making prowess. My balloon animal making needs work ! Late in the evening Bo began to choke on something and / or his stomach was heaving heavily. We were unable to resolve the problem. He was desperate to go outside and eat greenery. I finally allowed that, and the problem eased a bit. All we could do was soothe him and calm him until he was relaxed enough to fall asleep. I hope he will be okay by morning.

Very late at night our neighbour's little dog Jimmy showed up on our doorstep. He had run away from home, for at least the third time this summer. I took him home. Mike and Dorothy were not very pleased with him !

 

Thursday ; Bo woke me at 4:00 A.M., once again desperate to be taken outside. His stomach was again heaving heavily. He ate more greenery. By late morning his discomfort had passed and everything seemed okay. Poor Bo ... must have eaten something disagreeable when Erbon and Lorraine walked him yesterday afternoon while Joanne and I were in Penticton.

Erbon and Lorraine left this morning, headed west for Hope today and Vancouver tomorrow.

DSK

August 9 & 10, 2008

August 9, 2008

Tonight we went to a dinner concert at The Hitching Post Restaurant in Hedley. Excellent meal. Excellent entertainment. The group performing was Darrel de la Ronde & Saskia, sometimes a duo and sometimes a trio. Tonight they were a trio. Darrel de la Ronde and his wife Saskia are a married couple about our age. He is a Métis from northern Saskatchewan. She is from Holland. They are singers and songwriters. During the summer they are accompanied by Tom, their drummer friend with a motorhome. When Tom tours with them they all live in Tom's motorhome. Tom spends the winters in Costa Rica. Their music crosses many lines ; folk, blues, bluegrass, rock and roll, and ballads. Most of the music they perform is their own compositions. They have won Canadian music awards for Aboriginal Artist Of The Year and Aboriginal Album Of The Year.

During one of their rest breaks I went over and chatted with Tom, about RV'ing and Costa Rica. After the concert I chatted briefly with Tom and Saskia. I extended an invitation to them to stay on our lot at Riverside RV Park next time they are touring through the South Okanagan area.

 

August 10, 2008

Today we went to Penticton for an afternoon matinee performance of S.S. Sicamous Follies and a bit more of Peach Festival. Joanne prepared a picnic lunch, and our first stop was Skaha Lake Park to have lunch and see the sand castles built a couple of days ago for the Peach Festival Sand Castle Competition on Skaha Lake Beach. Well, it had rained quite heavily yesterday, and only one large sand castle had survived the rain.

The S.S. Sicamous is an old sternwheeler built in 1914. She worked from 1914 to 1936 on Okanagan Lake, and was a very important mode of transportation in the Okanagan Valley, operated by Canadian Pacific Railway. She was pulled up onto Okanagan Lake Beach in 1951, has since been restored, and is now an entertainment venue and museum. S.S. Sicamous Follies is a musical theatre production put on each summer. This year the S.S. Sicamous Follies 100 is a tribute to musicals, starting back at Rogers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma, and to Penticton's 100th birthday. We have attended a lot of live theatre, in a lot of different places, some of it good, some of it not so good. S.S. Sicamous Follies 100 was ... okay. I now measure how bad a musical theatre performance is by how it compares to the awful production our friends Erbon and Lorraine invited us to attend with them in Port Aransas, Texas a year and a half ago. Today's performance wasn't as bad as that. HA HA HA !

After the performance we wandered around the rose gardens adjacent to the S.S. Sicamous, and then we wandered out onto the dam that separates Okanagan Lake from the Okanagan River Channel that flows from Okanagan Lake through Penticton to Skaha Lake. We drove from where we were parked on the west side of Okanagan Lake near the S.S. Sicamous over to the east side of Okanagan Lake and parked near Okanagan Lake Park. We walked along the shoreline until we found the fenced in, off leash dog beach. Maybe we'll take Bo there sometime. We set up our folding chairs in Okanagan Lake Park and watched a performance on the Peach Festival Stage by Blue Brothers Too, a local tribute duo.

DSK

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August 3, 4, & 6, 2008

August 3, 2008 ; Today we attended Kars Under The K, the annual gathering and exhibition of antique and classic restored automobiles held in Keremeos. Restored automobiles seem to be quite a popular hobby here in the Okanagan / Similkameen region of the B.C. Interior. I suppose that's true wherever the weather is relatively good year round, and there is an abundance of affluent old men. Palm Springs, California is the best example.

 

August 4, 2008 ; Happy 150th Birthday to British Columbia

This morning we had a long meeting with our new investment broker / financial advisor. I recently "fired" the investment broker / financial advisor we "hired" about 15 months ago. We have met with Norm, our new investment broker / financial advisor twice in Penticton for short meetings, and now have met with him twice at Riverside RV Park Resort for long meetings. I am making significant changes, with long term implications, to our investment portfolios. I am now doing what I thought of doing, and should have done, 18 months ago. But ... now I feel like I'm shutting the barn door after the horse is gone, considering the very large declines in the value of our investments over the last 18 months. Oh, well ... I can't reverse time, and ... better late than never, I guess. Norm has met with us twice here at Riverside RV Park Resort, at his suggestion, which is a nice, comfortable way to meet, from our perspective. And he met with us today despite it being a holiday. We are feeling good about our decision to "fire" the other guy, and "hire" Norm. He seems to have a much better understanding of our lifestyle and goals. He "gets it" !

 

August 6, 2008 ; Dan Air Flight 403 / Mountain Performance Course Flight 3

The temperature reached about 100 degrees today. I like it ! Today's Mountain Performance Course Flight 3 was ... WOW ... bizarre ! While I flew, Joanne ran errands in Penticton.

Prior to my flight, my instructor briefed me on today's lesson activities. We started with a simulated short field takeoff, with a tall obstacle at the end of the field. The objective was to be airborne, at a higher altitude than the control tower by the time we passed by the tower. No problem. I was expecting a simulated engine failure on takeoff, at 500 feet altitude, with a forced approach either to the golf course, or back to the airport. My instructor pulled the throttle back to idle, simulating an engine failure, well before I had climbed to 500 feet. I knew I was too low to attempt a turn back to the airport, and I couldn't see the golf course yet. Okay ... I selected a plateau on the mountain right beside the airport. Well done ... I passed that test. We "contour crawled" to Oliver. I flew with the wingtip about 50 feet from the mountain side. Good ... next flight he wants me at 30 feet from the mountain side, less than the length of one wing. We flew through Vaseaux Canyon, which is about 500 feet wide with vertical cliff sides. We climbed over Vaseaux Canyon and practiced steep turns at 30 degrees of bank. Okay ... been there, done that ... many times. Then steep turns at 45 degrees of bank. Okay ... been there, done that ... a few times. Then ... steep turns at 60 degrees of bank. Sixty degrees of bank ? ! ? In a Cessna 172 ? ! ? Okay ! We did it with no flaps, 10 degrees, 20 degrees, 30 degrees, and 40 degrees of flaps. Thirty degrees was the most effective configuration, making the turn with the least amount of radius and highest degree of “stability”, so to speak. Then ... a continuous descending steep turn at 60 degrees of bank into Vaseaux Canyon. There’s a pretty fine line between that and a spiral dive ! ! ! Once fairly deep into Vaseaux Canyon, he had me make repeated 180 degree turns within the canyon walls to prove that it can be done, in a 500 foot wide canyon. Halfway through my first 180 degree turn, facing a wall of rock in front of me, I said " I don't think so !" He said "just bank it more, pull the nose up, and keep going". HMPH ... made it ! Did that three or four times.

We climbed out of Vaseaux Canyon and flew to the Oliver "practice area". We were going to do minimum radius turns using a variety of different, bizarre techniques. He explained a "hammerhead stall" and told me to perform one without him demonstrating it. < taking deep breath > Okay ... slow down to 80 MPH ... pull the control column all the way back, raising the nose to 45 degrees, until aerodynamic lift is lost and the aircraft stalls. Quickly, crank the control column all the way over, full deflection ailerons, banking at 90 degrees. Now the nose is up at 45 degrees, the wings are vertical to the ground instead of horizontal, and the aircraft is falling and flipping over. Quickly kick full rudder throwing it into a spin. After half a revolution of spinning, fully kick the opposite rudder pedal to stop the spin, slam the control column to full opposite aileron deflection to flip the wings from vertical back to horizontal, and smooooothly pull slowly out of the resulting dive, now facing in the opposite direction from where we started. HOLY SHIT ! ! ! I was turned around, having lost only about 300 feet of altitude, and had turned around within a radius of about 200 feet. What a stupid thing to do with a Cessna 172 ! No wonder these aircraft have cracks in them ! HA HA HA ! Let's do it again ! HA HA HA ! I did it four times. I suggested that it was an awfully extreme manoeuver to do in a Cessna 172, and I couldn't really see anyone doing that to turn around over a wheat field, like where I was trained to fly 23 years ago. But ... yes ... when the only other alternative was certain death by crashing into a mountain side, I could see choosing that manoeuver. And the point of the Mountain Performance Flight Course is to teach those alternatives to crashing into mountain sides. WHEW !

There was still one more very strange technique to learn. A "high speed" emergency manoeuver, performed just below the limit where full control deflection would tear the aircraft apart. At full throttle, pull the aircraft nose up quickly to about 45 degrees, then ram the control column forward to force the nose down, flying the airplane "over" an arc. At the point over the arc where one can feel one's butt rising up off the seat, at the point of passing through "zero gravity" into "negative g" ( hence the old term "flying by the seat of one's pants" ), crank the ailerons over to bank 90 degrees, pull the control column all the way back to prevent a spiral dive, zip around 180 degrees, roll out of the bank, pull up out of the dive before you "redline" the airspeed indicator and rip off the wings, et voilà ... you're turned around ! My instructor demonstrated it first. With nothing for me to hold onto while he demonstrated it, I experienced vertigo and nausea, something I haven't felt in an aircraft in a very long time. The "g" forces were quite strong. When I did it, holding onto the control stick, there was no sensation of nausea, just a bit of vertigo from the "g" forces. I did it four times. WHEW ! I pointed out to him that performing that manoeuver with a "civilian" passenger would result in puking in the aircraft. Yeah, he concurred, but better a puking passenger than a dead one. Good point !

On the way back to Penticton we practiced engine failures / forced approaches, sometimes while "contour crawling" right beside the mountain sides with no obvious acceptable places to land. But, surprisingly, the convective current "lift" coming off the mountain sides on a very hot day gave me superb gliding abilities, and I was always able to glide down the mountain sides until a suitable landing location in the valley would present itself. The moral of this Mountain Performance Flying Course is ... don't hit the mountain sides ! ! ! And ... even then ... if that does become the only option, they teach how to hit the mountain side "correctly". HA HA HA ! I'm not kidding !

My instructor pointed out to me some large red stains on a mountain side near White Lake. They were from fire retardant foam drops yesterday. There was a small forest fire there, and because it was near the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, the fire was fought aggressively from the air before it got out of hand. My approach and landing back at Penticton was to be a simulated short field. My instructor wanted me down and stopped on the runway before reaching the 500 foot marker lines. Oh ... well done, Daniel ! ! ! I was down and stopped well before the 500 foot mark.

Joanne picked me up at the airport and we went down to Okanagan Lake on the north side of Penticton for the Penticton Peach Festival activities. We parked and walked into Okanagan Lake Park. We wandered around all the vendor stands, bought a donair to share, and sat down to watch the music duo performing on the stage. First time since we left Ottawa over four years ago that we've had a decent, authentic donair. We didn't like the music duo so we left Okanagan Lake Park and wandered over to Gyro Park, to the Aboriginal Village set up there as part of the Peach Festival. Once again we wandered around the vendors. I was still hungry, and bought a barbecued salmon "sandwich". SUPERB ! ! ! A large, thick slab of wild sockeye salmon, caught in the Fraser River ( as only the First Nations people are allowed to do ), slowly barbecued, slathered with butter as it cooked, served on a large, thick, round, hot, fresh piece of bannock ( a slightly sweet Indian Fry Bread ). Joanne had a bannock dog ! A wiener served in bannock. After eating we wandered back to Okanagan Lake Park to watch another musical group, Kyle And His Amazing Rubber Band. We had seen this group perform before, at Cherry Fiesta in Osoyoos onCanada Day.

I realized, just now as I'm typing this, that my flight instructor forgot to give me the last exercise of today's flight, landing with jammed ailerons. I'll have to remember to remind him on our next flight.

DSK

July 28 to August 1, 2008

July 28 to August 1, 2008

 

Monday ; This afternoon Joanne's family arrived for a 3½ day visit with us. Her sister Lorraine, brother-in-law Doug, and nieces Madeleine, age 9, and Amelia, age 7. It took four long, hard days to drive here from Winnipeg. Halfway here they visited with Doug's sister and her family in Calgary.

 

Tuesday ; Today we went to Farmer John's Petting Farm in Keremeos, the highlight of the nieces' visit with us last year, and again this year. The rest of the day was spent in Riverside RV Park Resort's new pool complex. Madeleine and Amelia are both very fond of spending time in swimming pools. Lots of time, if possible, as it was here.

 

Wednesday ; Today was Dan Air Flight 402. I took Doug flightseeing. We flew in Cessna 172 C-GHJC ( Hotel Juliet Charlie ) from Penticton to Oliver and Osoyoos. We landed in both Oliver and Osoyoos, doing a "stop, backtrack, and go" at both locations. While climbing out after takeoff from Osoyoos runway 30 the pilot's side door window popped open. It's a hinged window, hinged at the top, and when it popped open, it flipped up and pasted itself against the underside of the wing because of the propeller slipstream. What a decrepit piece of junk Hotel Juliet Charlie is ! A real "bush plane" ! While trying to cope with the flying demands immediately after takeoff, I also had to get the window shut. I tried reaching out and pulling it back down, but with the engine at full throttle for takeoff, the slipstream from the propeller was too strong to allow me to reach far enough outside to grab the window. I had to decide whether to make a quick turn back and land to close the window, or pull the throttle back to idle to reduce the slipstream enough to allow me to reach outside, losing altitude immediately after takeoff, facing rapidly rising terrain. I pulled the throttle back, reached out, pulled the window shut, and latched it again quickly, then rammed the throttle back in before losing too much altitude and turning us into a smoking hole on the side of a mountain. Piece of s**t airplane ! ! ! Reminds me of Dee-Dee, our previous truck. HA HA HA ! I looked over at Doug, worried that the popped open window might have startled him, but he seemed unfazed.

For me, the highlight of the flight was circling Spotted Lake near Osoyoos at fairly low altitude while Doug took some amazing photographs. Spotted Lake is an oval shaped lake “pockmarked” by circles of mineral deposits. It’s situated on Native land, and is “sacred ground” to the local First Nations people. It’s visible a bit from Highway 3, but nothing as spectacular as seeing it from the air ! Great photos, Doug ! Thank you !

We flew back to Penticton and drove back to Keremeos. Doug had been communicating with me by e-mail for awhile before coming out here about his fantasy to climb the mountain across the Similkameen River from Riverside RV Park Resort. I wasn’t sure whether he was serious or not. And I had been trying to convince him that from a distance, mountain sides look a lot less imposing than they really are. Nevertheless, as we passed through Keremeos on our way back to Riverside, I asked Doug if he wanted to cross over Red Bridge and look for the access road that leads to the trail along the Similkameen River opposite Riverside. He was eager. We found the access road just past the Ashnola Campground, crossed over the Ashnola River and began exploring the “other” side of the Similkameen River. When we found ourselves across the river from Riverside, we stopped and Doug took photographs of our RV park across the river.

He looked up at the mountain we were beside and began to assess whether or not it was possible to hike up at least part of the mountain. It looked a lot different while standing at the base of it, looking up, than it does from across the river at our RV park. He thought it seemed possible, and was enticed. He hesitated because he didn’t have a hat, sunscreen, his bear whistle, or proper climbing shoes. Just do it, Doug ! It’s a one time opportunity ! So ... off he went, with me watching, having agreed to honk the truck horn if I saw any bears on the mountainside looking hungry for white man. HA HA HA ! I watched him climb, and knew it was steep when I saw that he was using his hands as well as his feet to climb. He climbed to a plateau part way up the smallest of the mountain peaks across the river from Riverside RV Park Resort, ascending perhaps 500 feet vertically. I watched, and visited with a horse that was in a corral near where I had stopped and parked. We were on the Alexis Indian Reservation. Most of the Alexis Band’s commerce is ranching. After ¾ of an hour or so of climbing, I could see that Doug had reached the plateau and was taking photographs. I could tell that he had hurried to get up there, and then he hurried to get back down, because I was waiting, and we hadn’t had lunch yet.

Congratulations, Doug ! Way to go ! Chase your dreams ! I suspect that this “mountain climb” was probably the highlight of the trip, for him.

 

Thursday ; Happy 47th Birthday to my brother, Russell

Today we took the in-laws to explore the little gold mining ghost town of Hedley, about 15 km. / 9 miles west of our RV park. Entering Hedley we drove by the remains of the Mascot Gold Mine’s stamp mill at the base of the mountain. We parked beside Twenty Mile Creek, and explored along the banks of the creek where finding gold washed down from the mountains above is common. While gold is no longer commercially mined here, individual prospectors pan for gold in Twenty Mile Creek and the Similkameen River. We wandered slowly around the small village, and used binoculars to look high up on the mountain side at the abandoned Mascot Gold Mine. We bought glasses of iced tea from two little girls who had a “lemonade stand” set up on their front lawn. Haven’t seen that in over 40 years ! Welcome to Hedley ! HA HA HA ! We dropped into the village’s little country general store that appears to be unchanged from 100 years ago. Hedley is a cute, quaint, little village that time seems to have passed by. It’s frequently used as a movie shooting location, appearing as an “old west” little town. The movie Andromeda was filmed here last summer.

 

Friday ; Farewell to the in-laws. We hope you enjoyed your visit with us. Thank you for driving halfway across Canada to visit us. Drive safely, and enjoy the journey back home, four days of hard driving.

 

DSK

July 21 to 26, 2008

July 21 to 26, 2008

 

Monday ; Today we took Teddy to Penticton for his annual examination, rabies vaccination, and thyroid hormone blood test. We went to a different veterinarian than we did last year. The one we went to last year was unsatisfactory, to say the least ! The one we went to this year was quite satisfactory, and will be our regular "home" veterinarian. While Teddy doesn't usually like driving in the truck, he was very mellow today on the drive to Penticton and back, as well as in the vet's office. The veterinarian and technicians were quite impressed with what a laid back fellow Teddy is.

 

Tuesday ; This afternoon we set off to explore the opposite side of the Similkameen River from where we are located at Riverside RV Park Resort. We drove to Hedley, and just past Hedley where a bridge on the highway crosses over the Similkameen River we turned onto Gold Mountain Road. It was a one lane dirt trail on Native lands along the west shore of the river. We had intended to drive all the way back to opposite Riverside RV Park. But a few miles along we encountered an abandoned car blocking the trail. We couldn't get around it, so we had to turn back. It was a fairly new car, but showed obvious signs of being an "Indianmobile". I guess when one of our local First Nations people experiences a car breakdown, they just leave it and walk away, maybe to seek assistance, or maybe just to leave it sitting there in the middle of the road forever. Who knows ? ! ?

On our way back home, we stopped to give assistance to a woman with a flat tire. The wheel lug nuts on her car had been severely overtightened by some moron with an air gun the last time she had her tires rotated. I broke one of the wheel studs trying to remove the lug nuts to get the old tire off. And I was unable to get a couple of the mangled thread lug nuts back on when installing her spare tire. After considerable effort and two skinned knuckles, we drove her into Keremeos to get a tow truck.

 

Wednesday ; Today at 6:45 P.M. we left for Hedley, to attend a 7:00 P..M. dinner concert at The Hitching Post Restaurant. The Hitching Post has a small stage, and about once a month features a performer, usually a folksy, coffee house kind of performance. Tonight was a female singer songwriter from Manitoba. We were delayed a few minutes by a car accident on the highway on the outskirts of Hedley. A little red car had failed to navigate a curve in the road, on the bridge over Twenty Mile Creek. It hit the concrete wall of the bridge then bounced over to hit the concrete wall of the bridge on the opposite side of the highway. When we got to the restaurant, it was full. HMPH ... guess I should have made a reservation. Which I’ll do for the next concert, which I’m interested in, in a few weeks. HEY ... it’s Hedley ! A gold mining ghost town with a population of about a couple of hundred people ... maybe ! Who’d have thought one would need a reservation in Hedley ? ! ?

We decided to drive back to Keremeos and have dinner somewhere, since we were primed for dinner out. Our first choice, Fish & Chipper, had just closed for the evening. Same with our second choice, the K Café . We ended up at the Riverbed Bistro, a new restaurant. It was ... okay ... but too mediocre to justify its prices.

 

Thursday ; Well, am I ever pissed off ! ! ! Today I was culling old files. As a result, I checked our Air Canada Aeroplan frequent flyer miles accounts status online. As a result of my frequent travel by commercial air during the 1980's and early 1990's, while employed by Canada Post, I still had more than enough frequent flyer miles left for two free tickets on Air Canada. But because we had not flown with Air Canada for over 5 years, our frequent flyer miles had expired. HMPH ! ! ! All those early morning flights, jammed into DC-9's, for naught ! ! !

 

Saturday ; Today was the Red Bridge Centennial. Red Bridge is on the west side of Keremeos, on the Ashnola River Road crossing the Similkameen River. Red Bridge was originally a railway bridge, on the rail line that ran from the Mascot Gold Mine in Hedley to the American town of Oroville, across the border from Osoyoos. The ore from the gold mine would be transported by rail from Hedley to Oroville where it would be transferred to U.S. trains. Coincidentally, that rail line ran across what is now the property of Riverside RV Park Resort. As a matter of fact, when we were having our lot excavated for development, remnants of the old rail line were evident. Red Bridge is one of the last covered bridges remaining in Western Canada.

The 100th Birthday celebrations began in town in the morning with a pancake breakfast, stories about the old bridge, an "armed train robbery", and a band playing before the festivities moved, with a "walk, run, & cycle" to Red Bridge led by the RCMP, mounted on horses, of course. After lunch there were dignitary speeches and stories by historians, followed by an afternoon of "period" activities. Demonstrations of archery, arrowhead making, butter churning, horse shoeing, gold panning, pine needle basket making, saddle making, and trapping.

Of course, while all these demonstrations were taking place around Red Bridge, I played my first hired entertainer gig as Hobo Dan, the juggling magician clown railroad hobo from 1908. I had devised a personal story. Born to gypsies in Budapest in 1854, I grew up to be a magician, performing on the stage of the Moulin Rouge in Paris, France. I came to this Godforsaken land of ice and snow known as Canada in 1888, performing on the great stages of Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal, before heading out west in 1904, "looking for adventure, and whatever comes our way" ( with apologies to Steppenwolf ). Now, in 1908, I had lost everything, and was living amongst the hoboes along the rail line on the banks of the Similkameen River, taking shelter underneath this new Red Bridge, with nothing but these two coins to my name. And how could a man survive with only two coins to his name ? Well ... they were, of course, < cue the music ! > magic coins ! HA HA HA HA HA !

It went well. I had fun. And it was my first paying "job" in over 4 years. Now I'm an employed homeless vagabond. HA HA HA ! While the Vancouver Travelling Band, a large marching band of wind instruments, played on the bridge, I juggled in front of them in time to their music. I wandered up and down the bridge performing magic for small groups of children. And I performed a "sit down" magic show for children near the end of the day's festivities. I was supposed to perform on a little stage, but I decided to just sit down on the pavement with my audience of children sitting in front of me, adults standing behind them. My clown colleagues were two older women, also in clown face makeup and hobo costumes. They specialized in making balloon animals.

DSK

July 18, 2008

July 18, 2008

Late last night while reading the Keremeos Review, the local weekly newspaper, I found an ad that intrigued me. A new party and events planning and provisioning business, located in Okanagan Falls, between Penticton and Oliver, was looking to hire "entertainers" ; jugglers, magicians, clowns, costumed characters, etc.. This morning I phoned and had a discussion with the owner. We arranged for a meeting / job interview at 6:00 P.M. at her place of business.

I needed to trim a dead branch off our huge Douglas Fir tree. I climbed up on the ladder, and while sawing off the dead branch ... HEY ... OW ! I was stung over my right eyebrow by a wasp. Last summer I purchased a cedar bird house and mounted it in the tree. I was disappointed this spring when I saw no evidence of it being used by any birds. Now I know why. When I looked away from the branch I was cutting, to see how and why I was stung, my head was surrounded by wasps coming out of the bird house. YOW ... I scrambled down the ladder quickly and went inside the trailer for first aid and sympathy. ****ing wasps !

At 5:00 P.M. we departed for my interview in Okanagan Falls and to attend the Beach Blanket Film Festival in Penticton. My interview went well, and I was hired to perform occasionally as a juggler / magician / clown. The business is very new and just getting started, so I don't think they will want my services often, but they do want me to work at the Red Bridge Centennial celebrations in Keremeos next weekend. Hey ... I'm an "entertainer" !

After my job interview we drove to Penticton. We were a bit early for the Beach Blanket Film Festival, so we went to Gyro Park to eat our picnic supper which Joanne had prepared. Oh, boy ... a classic rock band was performing a free concert at the Gyro Park Bandshell. We ate our picnic supper watching and listening to The Blackbirds, a classic rock band from Keremeos.

After supper we wandered over to Okanagan Lakeshore Park to attend the first of three evening performances of the 15th Annual Penticton Beach Blanket Film Festival. The audience sits on the beach, lounging on beach blankets or lawn chairs, facing Okanagan Lake, surrounded by mountains, with the sun setting. Absolutely gorgeous ! For an hour we were entertained by a young woman playing a guitar and singing folksy love songs. She was very good ! I think I fell in love with her, a green eyed blonde about 18 years old. I think she wants me ! HA HA HA ! Last time I felt that way about an 18 year old green eyed blonde on a moonlit beach, about 36 years ago, look where it got me ! HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! Then came a half hour performance of a Greek musical ensemble. HMMMMM ... remind me to cross Greece off my list of places to visit ! The films were projected onto a large screen mounted on scaffolding out in the water. Sort of the beach version of a drive in movie. There was a cool breeze blowing in off Okanagan Lake, just enough to justify wearing a sweater and wrapping a blanket around oneself to watch the movie. The Beach Blanket Film Festival introduces new Canadian made films. The feature film was preceded by three film "shorts", each about 5 minutes long, produced by CATO, the Centre for Arts and Technology in the Okanagan, a technical school in Kelowna, and a major sponsor of the Beach Blanket Film Festival. The three CATO produced "shorts" were ... well ... not great !

Tonight's feature length film was Breakfast With Scot. It was about a couple of gay men, one a former professional hockey player and now sports broadcaster, who inadvertently become guardians of a young boy, about 12 years old, with gay proclivities and mannerisms. The little boy is a real "queen", fond of wearing makeup and adorning himself with feather boas. The former pro hockey player, now sportscaster, keeps his homosexuality largely in the closet because of his profession, and is exasperated by the young boy's behaviour and openness. They develop a funny, touching relationship. The man teaches the boy to be a man. The boy teaches the man to be himself.

The film ended about 12:30 A.M., and we got home at 1:30 A.M., trying to sneak quietly into Riverside RV Park Resort and not wake everybody up with Lanoire’s Cummins diesel engine.

DSK